Two more commitments to country's top school highlight active week for 2011 Clams

These past seven days been our most active of the summer. It includes 2011's, and a 2012. Some of the activity I can tell you about, and some players and parents prefer to keep quiet for now.

But first, the commitments we could yell from the mounatin about.

The small Clam army in Cambridge continue to take shape. After Murph Vandervelde (St. Sebastians, midfield) de-committed to Lehigh for Harvard after the coaching switch, top Clam attackman Will Walker (Phillips Andover, attack) took the same step. Will had given his verbal commitment to Duke this past fall. But playing alongside his brother Jack (also plays for Harvard as an attackman), among other factors, proved to strong a pull for Will. So Will became the sixth current or former Clam to head to Harvard. Then, just this morning, the second brother combo took shape, with attackman Matt Scalise (St. Johns Prep, attack) committing to Harvard, and in turn set himself up to play alongside his brother Mark, a junior midfielder come fall. In so doing, Matt becomes an unbelievableseventh current or committed Clam on the Crimson roster. This is a fact I take great pride in as a Coach and Director of our program. When this many players matriculate to such a remarkable school and program, something's going right!

Amidst the furious Harvard scramble for the trio above came two more outstanding Clam commitments involving two outstanding players and young men, who also committed to powerhouse schools and programs. Charlie Finngan (Thayer, LSM) committed to the Hamilton Continentals, who will be entering the coveted NESCAC this fall. A strong student and tenacious player, Charlie had considered other strong schools such as Trinity, Middlebury, Tufts and others before deciding Hamilton was the place for him. And Tom Rehnert (Rivers, defense/LSM), deicded to pursue another of the country's toughest schools, opting to commit to the Air Force Academy. Always leaning toward the service academies (Tom had significant talks with West Point on numerous occasions), Tom also considered schools that ran the gamut, from Duke all the way to Franklin and Marshall. Apparently, the Air Force coach made his final decision after viewing Tommy in the Hotbeds (DE) All Star game. An honor just to be selected for this game, Tommy stood out even among the All Stars because of his size, strength and skill.

And on top of the commitments we're able to discuss at this point come two more that, due to either superstition, coaching change, or an abundance of caution, the parents and players involved would prefer us not mention yet.

And amidst all this activity came our first official 2012 offer. Because we are so early in the process, I personally shy away from going into specifics about these types of offers until finalized. But in this case, the D1 programs making offers to this young man (one official, others "in the works") are in no uncertain terms the very best in the country.

So as one class (2011) kicks into high gear, another class (2012) starts up. Exciting times indeed for a program that is once again leading the way in the region for college/program placements.

Below are the 2011 players who have committed to a collegiate program thus far, and where they're headed: